


Sloppy Subterfuge

by IgnotusSomnium



Series: Earth Attacks [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Humans on Alternia, Language Barrier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 00:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17735147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IgnotusSomnium/pseuds/IgnotusSomnium
Summary: A pair of trolls comes to the humans with a suspicious offer.(Missing scene from Occupation.)





	Sloppy Subterfuge

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between chapters 2 and 3 of Occupation. I originally posted it on Tumblr, but edited it a little bit for publication here.

The second set of trolls came close to daybreak. Unlike the first trolls they had met here, these two did not cover their eyes. One was a maroon-blood, already moulted. He stood perhaps fifteen centimeters taller than the other and carried a large hammer. The other wore a grass-green symbol that looked like a semi-circle with a squiggle under it. She had a crossbow in one hand.

Initially, they treated these trolls similarly to how they had Vantas and Pyrope. Jade remained in the ship, monitoring the area. Dave went into stealth mode in case the Alternians became hostile. Rose and John acted as the main focus. She kept her helmet on as she walked out to greet the Alternians. They were clearly nervous, bundles of tense energy ready to spring. The one with a hammer was keeping a white-knuckled grip on it. Rose had known about the separation of children and adults, but she hadn’t expected the problems it would cause. To the children on Alternia, she and her friends were boogeymen. They expected to be attacked at any moment. Friendliness only confused them and made them even more paranoid. It was unbelievably frustrating.

“Hello,” she said in as clear a voice as she could with the helmet on. “Are you allies of Pyrope and Vantas?”

The aliens' eyes flicked over her and John, spending the most time gaping at the tops of their heads where horns would grow on an Alternian. They would almost undoubtedly have noticed John’s taser. 

The green-blooded one stepped forward. “I am Isolde Dylora. We are here independent of Pyrope and Vantas.” She stared at Rose, unblinking. Not that it really mattered with Rose’s helmet on and her visor opaque. This was an interesting development, she had to admit. It only made sense that in any given village there would be competing factions, but this was awfully brazen.

“I am Rose Lalonde, junior science technician, and this is John Egbert, squad leader. Do you already know what we discussed with the others?” Her limited vocabulary was infuriating; something Pyrope had caught onto. She hadn’t been condescending about it, but had clearly been having fun bandying around technical terms that Rose could only barely comprehend through context. After turning in her report Rose had reviewed the most advanced vocabulary programs she had on her reader and made notes on the terms used in the official documentation. Next time she would be able to keep up.

“We heard, but I wanted to hear it from you. Sometimes Vantas doesn’t tell us everything.” Interesting. Rose had gotten the impression that Pyrope was in charge. Vantas spewed forth invectives like a font of colorful vituperation, but he yielded to Pyrope during the negotiations. All her experience and studies indicated trolls simply did not do that. The one who was in charge of a group had to prove that they were in charge at all times. So why single out Vantas?

“Do you really look like lusii?” interrupted the one with the hammer. That was an interesting comparison. Rose still had yet to see an actual lusus, but descriptions she’d read indicated they were genetically altered animals with pure white coloration. Whether they were leucistic, albinistic, or something else entirely was anyone’s guess. It would be rather amusing if an Alternian larva mistook Dave for a custodial monster. She would have to mention the possibility to him at some point.

“I do not believe I do,” Rose admitted. She took off her helmet. The Alternians flinched at her appearance. Dylora looked mildly ill. What must they see, she wondered. To her the Alternians looked like young humans with makeup and prosthetics until they moved in odd ways or began speaking in pitches and tones the human throat couldn’t hope to mimic. Then the appellation of “trolls” was horribly fitting. 

“Why would Vantas lie to you?”

Dylora’s mouth twitched, jaw shifting strangely. She spoke haltingly this time. “He, Vantas, he’s paranoid. He told us very little about you. He didn’t want anyone else to see you. We had to make sure he was telling the truth.”

That didn’t answer her question at all. Every Alternian was paranoid, at least in comparison to humans. In a society where murder was a way some individuals let off steam, paranoia was a healthy instinct to have. Rose wasn’t sure what it took for an Alternian to consider someone paranoid. 

“Here we are,” Rose said, indicating herself and John. “I will gladly repeat what we told Pyrope and Vantas earlier, if you want.” 

“I would appreciate it, Miss Lulond.” 

Rose again explained the general spiel about becoming allies with their village to protect them from the Empire’s harsh culling laws and, in exchange, the humans’ desire to not fight with Alternians any longer. She explained that they wanted to build a base nearby to assist with their diplomatic efforts. It was all true, of course. It wasn’t the entire truth, but the speech she gave was the basic reason they were there. 

When she finished, the redblood whispered something in Dylora’s ear.  

“I don’t like this,” John’s voice said through her earpiece. “We shouldn’t be going behind their backs.” Rose, of course, couldn’t respond. She would talk to him later. Unsavory as it was to deal with possibly opposing factions, they were on a mission to find allies. Alternians who would oppose the empire would always have their own reasons for doing so. Many of them would probably be unpleasant. In any case, if these Alternians proved unwilling to negotiate they could simply tell Pyrope about it. Rose was curious how Pyrope would react. 

“You realize that this sounds too good to be true,” Dylora said. Rose nodded.

“We know this is not how the Empire works. It is how we work. The Empress is dead, but fragments of the Fleet remain. We want Alternia to be our ally, not our enemy.” She had to stress the “mortal” version of “enemy.” Alternian had many different levels of ‘enemy.’ The closest thing to the word 'friend’ they had technically meant something closer to “an individual I do not fear and have no reason to kill.” (Dave referred to that as 'frenemies’ in that frustratingly lackadasical way he approached language and cultural differences.) Somewhere between mortal enemies and friends was the classification “ _khsmes’s,_ ” which referred to an individual one both hated and admired in a romantic fashion. There were more complicated nuances to it, Rose knew, but most of what she had read were second-hand accounts by human theorists. She had tried to watch Alternian films, but they weren’t terribly helpful on the matter, in addition to being dreadfully propagandistic. 

“Well, you’re not getting anywhere with Vantas as your ally,” Dremra said with a smirk. 

“What do you mean?”

“He’s a  _tán’_ leader. Doesn’t know what he’s doing. Besides, he’s  _gnshalozi_. Probably a  _shalkrit_. If you want an ally it needs to be someone who’d survive culling.”

“Uh, Dave or Jade, do either of you know what that meant?” John asked. Rose knew  _shal_  was a term usually used for “blood” but that was it. It couldn’t have to do with Vantas (He was the leader? How had that happened?) being low-caste since he wasn’t yet molted. 

Jade chimed in, “I can’t find  _shalkrit,_ but gun- gns- that other word means someone who hides their color!”

That was a curious term. Rose had never met an adult who didn’t put their color on everything like a child marking every toy with their name. The lower castes wore less of it, but even they saw their blood color as an integral part of their being. An Alternian would sooner go without their hands than their color. The children on Alternia were a bit different. It was obvious that they were running low on supplies, including personalized clothing. Rose had seen a few without any obvious signs or colors, but she assumed they would all have proclaimed their status if asked. Apparently that wasn’t always the case. The question, then, was what would make an Alternian hide their blood color.

“I do not think his blood status is important,” Rose said to Dylora. “So far he is not a bad ally.” She wanted to say that they had no complaints, but wasn’t sure how best to translate that particular phrase. When she got done with this mission she was going to demand more advanced lessons. 

“He might be useful now, but a shalkrit isn’t gonna get support for you for long. Unless you want to be allied with a bunch of _shalnan_.” She tapped her claws on her crossbow’s handle. Unsubtle child.

“Dave?” John said.

“Right behind them. On your order.”

“Hold unless they actually draw.”

“Remember, we want to end culling,” Rose responded to Dylora. “We will not force you to negotiate if you disagree.” 

“What if we want a deal?” Dylora asked. “We’ll help you, but only if you get rid of Vantas and his allies.” That was awfully blatant. Not to mention boring. 

“We will not interfere in local disputes,” she said. Not directly, at least. Any help they gave one side would naturally aid it against their rivals as well as the Empire. That was an unavoidable consequence of their mission.

Dylora growled. “I see what you want. Get all the  _ishalnan_  on your side so you can undermine the Empire.” Assuming  _shalnan_  meant something like “outcast,” it was pretty close to the truth, she had to admit. 

“You do not have to negotiate with us,” Rose repeated instead. Usually this was the first reaction they got, or else were attacked immediately. They couldn’t just leave now that they had some Alternians willing to negotiate. Maybe she would get to see what Pyrope’s reaction to this attempt of subterfuge would be after all.

A swirl of motion tore Dremra off her feet and slammed her into the ground. The maroon-blood raised his hammer with a shout. John charged him. He dodged the Alternian’s wild swipe and got a hit in with his taser. By then Dylora was back on her feet, snarling. John didn’t have another weapon, but his suit would protect him from most attacks she could deal out. Something caught Dylora in the back of her leg and knocked her down again. Dave came back into view. He put the tip of his blade on Dylora’s throat and said a few crude Alternian words that Rose wasn’t familiar with. Charming, her twin. 

“Isolde Dylora.” Rose stood above their subdued visitors. “We will not negotiate with you any longer. Please do not visit again, unless it is to make amends.” Dave stepped back. He didn’t sheathe his sword. John had taken up the other Alternian’s hammer. The tazered Alternian would be in a great deal of pain for the next few hours, but most likely wouldn’t suffer any long-lasting effects. 

“Klengnallrenchtkaerr,” Dylora growled, the sound rumbling forth from deep in her chest. Rose wasn’t sure if it was actual words or not. Dylora stumbled to her feet and snatched up her crossbow. She completely ignored the other Alternian in her retreat. He would manage to recover enough to flee on his own in about a minute. 

Rose couldn’t wait to see what other surprises this group had in store for them.


End file.
